Heading to Iceland
(click on images to view them full size)
I’m traveling to Iceland for a landscape photography trip.
Nighttime view along the waterfront in Reykiavik.
My first trip to Iceland was in December 2022 and I have posted some of my images in this gallery (Iceland). I had a wonderful time and it was actually my first photography focused (sorry about the pun) trip. This was such a different kind of trip for me as there was a lot of time for photography and the pace was much more relaxed than a sightseeing trip.
I found the quality of light was pretty amazing and very different from what I experience here in Western Canada. We were very lucky with great weather conditions (i.e., not too much wind, snow or cold), but the short days (about 5-6 hours of daylight) was a bit tough to get used to. The sun would rise about 10:30 am and then be setting again at 4:30 pm and there was often a twilight glow to the light before and after those times.
I knew that this would not be my only trip to Iceland and so when an opportunity came up to travel with a photography group I am part of, I jumped at the chance. We will be traveling towards the end of April and so I anticipate very different conditions (i.e, expect anything).
The focus of the trip
Slow shutter speed work with one of the many waterfalls in Iceland.
This trip will also be landscape photography focused which is a genre that I do not regularly shoot, so this will be really helpful for me to practice and learn more skills. It is also fun to travel with different people and learn things from their practices and workflows.
We’ll be traveling along the southern ring road (for those who know Iceland) as the northern road can still be challenging for travel outside of the summer season. This will be similar to the route I visited in 2022, but as I mentioned the conditions will likely be very different - let’s be honest with photography every day the conditions are unpredictably different.
There will be a lot of waterfalls and seascapes as well as glaciers in our itinerary, so I’ll be practicing using my ND filters to slow down the shutter speed and get some varied water motion in the images. This is not something that I get a lot of practice with since I don’t live near bodies of water.
Why do I like dedicated photography trips?
I find trips that are dedicated to photography allow me time to really immerse myself in this craft without worrying about taking away from other activities - this is the activity. I also find that being able to do this in a new location allows me to explore and see things that I might not normally see - in this way I feel like I’m doing an immersive deep dive into a location rather than a sightseeing trip.
I also find that these trips accelerate my learning and I have found that not only am I inspired by the location, but my skill level has increased as a result of the trip. I believe that I’ll get similar boosts in skills and some good practice with composition and photography techniques.
I recall my very first location from the 2022 trip. Shortly after getting on the road we stopped at a very popular waterfall location Skogafoss to do a bit of warm up and get comfortable with our gear and set ups.
My 14-24mm F2.8 lens with ND filter holder on the front.
I was a mess! I had come with a new tripod (I hadn’t previously used one much at all) and a new filter system for my camera lens. I have a 14 - 24mm F2.8 (very wide angle lens) which is a beautiful lens , but it requires a special filter system which is much larger than most lenses.
I got my camera and filter system set up on my tripod as the wind changed direction slightly and a fine mist of water from the waterfall covered my filter with dropplets. I spent the next 45 mins wiping my filter glass between trying to wrestle my equipment into a vantage point that would make for a nice composition - and then people would walk in front of me and I would have to move and start again. It was an incredibly humbling experience for me, but also an incredible learning experience.
By our second stop I had sorted out my kit and come up with some better ways of protecting my gear from mist/water droplets (Buff neck gaiters are fabulous for covering the front of camera lenses to keep them dry and dust free).
What makes Iceland such a desirable photography destination?
The scenery and light in Iceland is so amazing with the northern latitudes the angle of the sun stays quite low in the sky (this is from the December trip) and so it is easy to keep shooting well after golden hour in the morning. It will be interesting to find out how the quality of light changes with the seasons with this upcoming trip.
Glacial ice washed ashore on Diamond Beach.
In addition to amazing landscapes, waterfalls and seascapes there are the wild ponies that you can come across which make for interesting subjects. There is also an abundance of wildlife and migratory birds which will be interesting to see (there wasn’t much where I was in December) - plus the people were very friendly and welcoming. There is such a healthy and uplifting vibe to this country.
There are also a number of very talented photographers in Iceland such as Einar Gudmann and Gyda Henningsdottir who specialize in landscape, bird and wildlife photography - they have a beautiful YouTube channel and this is the link to their website.
Chris Lund is another very talented landscape photographer and he was our local guide during my first trip - this is the link to his website.
Planning for this trip
I think that my experience photographing around Calgary gives me some advantages with respect to packing and being prepared for very changeable weather. Again layers and more layers are important (see this blog post for how I prepare for cold weather shoots) with a mandatory waterproof top layer. I’ll also be bringing Wellington boots (rain boots) and an umbrella as it can be quite rainy. My biggest concern is always getting cold as that can cut a photography shoot short or make it unbearable. I have purchased cycling sleeves (fingerless insulated sleeves) to wear on top of my base layer as this should help to keep me warm and will allow me to tuck a hand warmer inside to keep my hands from getting too cold.
Photography backpack filled with gear (approx 20 lbs)
With respect to camera equipment, I always take two camera bodies in case one has any issues and I’ll be taking my 24-120mm F4.0 lens, 14-30mm F4.0 lens, and my 100-400mm F4.0-5.6 lens (my 14 - 24mm F2.8 will stay home for this trip as the filter system makes for a lot of extra gear). This should cover all the focal length range that I will need.
I will also take my polarizing filter, 3,6 and 10 stop ND filters which fit all three of these lenses with the step up ring. There will also be a lot of rechargeable batteries, memory cards, a tripod, a laptop and a 4TB external drive to back up the images.
When I travel I bring enough memory cards so that I don’t have to delete any images during the trip, back up images on the laptop and then duplicate the raw image files on the external drive (so three levels of redundancy). This works well and I’ve never had an issue with losing travel destination images.
Can’t wait for Iceland!
I think I’m prepared for this trip and I’m really looking forward to meeting up with some new photographers and extending my network. I’m also looking forward to another amazing cup of coffee with almond croissant in my favourite cafe in Reykjavik where I’ll be starting my trip.
I’m looking forward to making some new images to compliment the body of work I produced from the last trip.
Have you ever been to Iceland or traveled to a destination for the sole purpose of photography or other creative pursuit? I’d love to hear about your experiences.
Vestrahorn at sunset.
I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.
